18 years later, but the Barry University men’s soccer team finally got its redemption
Eighteen years ago, the longest and most famous game in the history of the Barry University men’s soccer program left an indelible mark.
There was a scar there, sure — that happens when you lose a lead and fall 2-1 in a blood-and-guts battle for a national championship that lasted 138 minutes, including four overtimes.
But there was also the pride of having reached the title game, and there was friendship, too — a bond between players and a coach that has lasted a generation.
“It sticks with you,” Dino LaCapra, one of the players from the 2000 Barry team, said of the loss. “You always think, ‘What if we had won’?”
This past Saturday, in constant rain and upper-30s cold at Pittsburgh’s Highmark Stadium, 12 former Barry players, including LaCapra and five others from that 2000 team, made their way to Pennsylvania to root for their Buccaneers.
Former Barry players made their way from Chicago, Boston, Charlotte, New York, Austin, South Carolina, Virginia, Orlando and Miami. Others followed online from Holland, Croatia, Brazil, Spain, England and Jamaica.
Finish the job — that’s what they wanted.
This new Bucs crew — with four Englishmen, four Italians, three Brazilians, three Miamians, two Germans, two Argentines and a few others — did just that, defeating the West Chester (Pennsylvania) Golden Rams 2-1 in the NCAA Division II title game.
“We won by them winning,” LaCapra said. “It was the passing of the baton. Now people can talk about them for 20 years and not us.”
Those conversations over the next two decades would have to include players such as freshman midfielder Francisco Greco of Argentina, senior defender Stephen Kosmala of England and junior forward James Kirkham, also of England.
Trailing 1-0 in Saturday’s final with just 12 minutes remaining in what would’ve been another crushing defeat, Greco — the Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the Year and the Offensive MVP of the national tournament — sent a cross into the box. Kirkham, despite standing just 5-8, scored on a deft header.
“I was happy to win a header — at 5-foot-nothing, I don’t do that often,” said Kirkham, 25, exaggerating his lack of height to make his point. “We had been working in training on getting in front of the first [defender]. I just made sure I was there.”
Less than six minutes later, Barry got the game-winner. Fittingly, it came on a free kick — which is how the Bucs lost to Cal State Dominguez Hills 18 years ago.
In Saturday’s winning play, Barry coach Steve McCrath, 51 — who was also the coach in 2000 — wanted Kosmala on the free kick but didn’t have to say anything.
Kosmala confidently took control and lined up the ball on the left side, just outside of the 18-yard box. He then calmly bent the ball around the wall, finding the net on one bounce to the right corner.
“I’m not usually on our free kicks,” said Kosmala, 23, who was named the top defensive player in the national tournament. “But the weather made the surface quite slippery. I just thought that hitting the target was the most important thing.”
After Kosmala’s goal, Barry held on for a few more minutes, and, when the scoreboard clock read zeroes all across, some of the ex-Bucs players defied security guards and jumped the fence to join in on the celebration.
“We exorcised the demons,” McCrath said, referring to 2000. “When we won, I just wanted to explode [with joy].”
Barry would’ve never made it as far as they did without Marco Sordi, a 6-3 senior goalie from Italy. He made the all-tournament team and earned a reputation in clutch situations.
During the season, including playoffs, he faced 18 penalty shots and allowed only eight, a phenomenal record on what should be a layup for shooters.
“I try to watch how [shooters] position their bodies and their feet,” Sordi said. “It’s a mix of instinct and reading the shooter.”
Sordi, 23, was part of the 2017 Barry team that went 5-6-2. That season was interrupted for three weeks due to a hurricane, causing five matches to be cancelled, crushing the team’s momentum.
This season, McCrath brought in 11 new players, including seven who became starters on a team that qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011 and finished with a 16-4-3 record.
“We had quality on the team last year, but we were less unified,” Sordi said. “Having all the new players this year brought a culture change, and we were committed to learn from our mistakes.”
Barry went 5-0 in the playoffs, winning two of those games on penalty kicks following scoreless draws.
The team’s leading scorer on the season was Italian sophomore Flavio Colasanti, who had 12 goals and 29 points, earning Player of the Year honors in the conference and also in the South Region.
Greco was also impressive, winning three regular-season matches with overtime goals.
Another part of the Barry story is the fact that McCrath’s father is Cliff McCrath, a retired soccer coach who led Seattle Pacific to five NCAA Division II national titles and five second-place finishes.
Cliff, 82, couldn’t make it to Saturday’s game, but he and his son shared a euphoric phone call that night.
Steve McCrath said he thought of his father while Barry was trailing 1-0 in Saturday’s final.
“I was thinking, ‘Dad lost three [national finals] before he won one, but I don’t think I can do that’,” McCrath said. “I prayed, and we scored (the tying goal), and then I let out a primal scream, which I don’t normally do.
“I’m proud that now I’m in that cathedral [of championship coaches].”
THIS AND THAT
▪ Barry, ranked 20th in the nation to start the tournament, beat three higher-rated teams in its 5-0 run (schools ranked eighth, 10th and 11th). And, of those five victories, only a 4-1 win over No. 10 Spring Hill was decided by more than one goal. The win over Spring Hill included three Barry goals in less than three minutes.
▪ In the NCAA semifinals, Barry shut out Fort Hays State, which entered the matchup leading the nation with 3.5 goals per game. The game went to eight rounds of a shootout before Barry prevailed, 5-4.
▪ The Bucs earned a national title despite not winning their conference postseason crown, losing 1-0 to third-ranked Palm Beach Atlantic on Nov. 4. One day later, Barry received an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. The Bucs also lost to PBA in the regular season.
▪ Barry is the second Miami school ever to win an NCAA Division II men’s soccer title. FIU won championships in 1982 and 1984 before eventually making a transition to Division I.